iReunite
by Evillittleliars
Summary: What ever happened to the iCarly gang? It's been 10 years since Carly moved to Italy and things are much different now. Can Spencer bring them all back together again? - With special apperances from the Victorious gang.
1. Chapter 1

-**PROLOGUE**-

_Dear iCarly Gang,_

_Today it will be ten years since you did the very last recording of your web show iCarly. You said that it was 'Goodbye for now' and it gave me hope that one day you would return to the internet and make me laugh again. But that was the last the internet every heard from you. I wonder where you all are now. Are you all the same or have you changed? Do you even still talk to each other anymore? I guess I'll never know the answer. After you left the world slowly forgot about you, but I have never forgotten. iCarly was everything to me and it still is. I just wish one day you could return to the internet, just once more. _

_Lots of love, your biggest fan,_

_Lucy Summers._

-DISCLAIMER- I do not own iCarly or the characters used.

-**CHAPTER 1**-

It's been ten years since Carly moved to Italy with her dad. Ten years since the last ever iCarly web show. And as each of them woke up that morning they all knew it.

**Los Angeles**

'Freddie!'

…

'Freddie!'

Freddie walked in to see Sam lying in bed, still not dressed, and eating what appeared to be a piece of fried chicken that Freddie assumed she was hiding under her pillow; she always did that. He smiled a little at the sight before going over to her and sitting on the side of the bed.

'What can I help you with, princess puckett?' he smiled but quickly realized Sam was in no mood for cute. She had that look. The one that could kill a man with one glance.

He sighed, 'What do you want?' She looked down at her snack and quickly finished it before looking back up to him again.

'I need more chicken' she then smiled that devious smile she had when she wanted him to do something for her. And obviously he couldn't resist.

'Okay, I'll go get you some but this is the last time I go early morning chicken runs for you' he laughed, kissed her quickly on the forehead and got up to go. Just as he left the room, he popped his head back in, smiled, and said,

'I hate you'

She laughed and replied with the obvious 'I hate you too' .

'I won't be long' he said as he left the room.

**Italy**

The alarm clock would not shut up and she moaned as she was forced out of bed. Why she had 'The Joke Is On You' as her alarm tone was a mystery. As she glanced at the clock that read '8:00am' she sighed, if Charlie changes my alarm one more time I will kill him. Her boyfriend Charlie was her soul mate, her one true love (if that stuff even exists), but he always liked to play pranks on her. Like changing her alarm to an earlier time on her days off when he knows that her mission on those days is to sleep in as late as possible.

Although she was tired, she still smiled at the thought of him. He was already at work for the day and she wondered what time he would be home at. He knew what this day was as well. And how much she was dreading it.

She struggled to get ready that morning. After getting ready she looked at the clock, 8:40am.

She decided she would call them today. But she didn't know how to possibly start that conversation,

'Hey sorry I haven't talked to you in like 9 years but I've been busy, so do you want to talk about a web show that you probably don't even care about?'

It's hard to think that they were once best friends and now they barely know each other. 9 years… She didn't even know where they were now, who they were. Everyone was pretty mad at her when she stopped answering their calls and texts and emails or anything really. She just missed them so much, and she tried to visit as much as she could in that year, but it cost too much and she had college to think about, and her life plans and she just found no time to go visit them and they had no time or money to visit her. Not being with them was so hard and she decided it was for the best to move on from them. And they became so angry, they decided to block her from their lives, from Facebook, from everything. And so, it's been 9 years….

9 years, 3 months and 2 days to be exact…

And not a day goes by where she doesn't regret shutting them out.

And now here she was, on iCarly's 10th year offline, sitting on her sofa, phone in hand, shaking, deciding finally that it was now or never.

**Seattle**

'Mr Gibson we have the supplies you requested'

There he was, Mr Cornelius Gibson, founder of the most successful business in all of Seattle.

He was a big business man now, very professional, and certainly not the Gibby anyone remembers…

'Did you remember to get me everything?' he asked.

'Yes, 3 tubs of pudding, thirty bottles of liquid soap, three hundred t-shirts with the logo 'GIBBBAYYY' on them and the brand new One Direction album that has been signed by all members' Gibby nodded but then stopped,

'Wait you forgot something'

The woman checked her list again and realized what he meant,

'Your new head replica won't be ready until tomorrow, Sir'

…Okay so maybe he is the exact same Gibby that we know.

'Is there anything else?' he asks, trying to get rid of her so he can retreat to his secret room under his office to listen to the new 1D album in peace. It will be there 25th album now and each one in his eyes just gets better and better.

'Oh there was one other thing. You got an email this morning from Mr Shay, he wants to know if he can have lunch with you tomorrow.' Gibby just stares at her.

'Whose Mr Shay?' he simply asked trying to think of who that is.

'Spencer Shay' she helped him. His eyes opened wide as he remembered.

'Oh my god really? I haven't heard from him in a long time. Tell him I'll meet him at the Groovy Smoothie at half 4 tomorrow'.

'Right away Sir' she then left leaving Gibby to say just one thing.

'Gibbayyyy'.

**Los Angeles**

Freddie managed to carry the big tub of chicken up the stairs and grabbed out his keys. But stopped when he heard something coming from the apartment. It sounded like….

Sam was crying.

He quickly opened the door to find her sitting there on the couch, laptop in front of her and tears falling. He would still notice the iCarly home page anywhere. She was watching an iCarly web show. And he realized which one. The last one they recorded…

She didn't even notice him come in, and just sat there watching. It was strange seeing it now. After all those years. She felt an arm wrap around her and looked up to see Freddie trying his best to comfort her.

'Do you know what day it is today?' she said softly, more tears threatening to escape. He just looked at her softly and nodded.

They both just sat there for a while, comforting each other as they watched back old clips from iCarly.

'How come you never deleted the site?' Sam breaks the silence and looks up at him. He smiles and looks down,

'How could I?' was all he said. Sam wrapped her arms around him and just let it all out. Sam had opened herself up to Freddie so much over the years but never did he see her cry like this before. He just held her, wishing he could take away her tears.

The ringing of their phone interrupts their moment. Sam sits up straight as Freddie brushes away her tears. Sam takes a deep breath and tries to make herself sound like she wasn't just crying her heart out. She looked down at caller ID, but the number is unknown.

She wonders who could be calling so early in the morning.

'Hello?'

**Italy**

She was sitting there, still shaking wondering if she would ever find the courage to type in the number. She got it off Spencer and wondered if it was even the right one.

When she finally got the courage and started to type her phone started buzzing.

Caller ID – Spencer Shay.

'Hey Spencer! I miss you so much, how have you been?' she was so happy to hear from him even though they had talked on the phone only a couple of days ago. Spencer spent a few years living with Carly in Italy, but he eventually decided to move back home to Seattle. But Spencer still tries to visit on holidays and birthdays. It's not the same relationship as they used to have but they still were there for each other. And Carly always liked hearing from him.

'Hey Carls! I have some great news!' he cheered and his voice made Carly even more happy.

'What is it?' she asked.

'Well this big Art gallery place in Seattle is having a big thing tomorrow night where they are going to be showing off my work. My Art work has been doing so well lately.'

'Oh my gosh Spencer that's amazing!'

'Shh that's not even the best part!' he interrupted loudly, 'Do you want to know what the best part is?' he basically shouted.

Carly laughed, 'Just tell me!'

'Well I want you to be there! So I got you a plane ticket for you and Charlie to come out tonight so you can be there for it!'

Silence.

'Spencer I don't know about that. I haven't been to Seattle in 9 years. After everything that happened.. I don't know how I feel about coming back. I made a life for myself here, and I managed to forget about everything going on there. I don't want to go back'

'Carly, you have to come. Sam, Freddie and Gibby don't even live there anymore. Well Gibby does but I'm pretty sure he's traveling right now. Please? I really want you to be there.' He explained and used that voice of his that he knew she couldn't refuse.

There was a few moments of silence.

'What time is my flight?'

**Los Angeles**

'Hello?' she was still curious as to whose voice she would be greeted with.

Freddie couldn't hear the other person so had no clue who was speaking.

'Mrs B?' Sam looked confused and worried. Freddie whispered at her to put it on speaker so she did. And all he was greeted with was his mom crying.

'Mom, what's wrong?!" he cried.

'I just miss you so much.' This made Sam and Freddie look at each other weird.

'You were just here last week visiting' Sam sounded annoyed.

'I know but I just get so lonely in this house without my Freddie' Freddie sighed and looked pleadingly at Sam to which she shook her head and whispered,

'No absolutely not. Freddie, no way.' She glared at him, and he just looked from her to the phone and back again. When he looked back at her he mimed 'Sorry'.

'Look Mom, we're not busy this weekend so how about we come spend the weekend with you?' Sam just glared at him the whole time.

'Oh Freddie that's a great idea!' she cheered.

'Okay we'll leave tomorrow night then' and just as he was going to hang up his mother shouted back,

'No! You need to leave now!'

Sam and Freddie shared a look.

''Why?' Sam butted in, obviously annoyed that she would now have to spend the weekend with Freddie's mom.

'Truthfully there's something I need to tell you both and it has to happen as soon as possible!' she practically shouted out.

Sam and Freddie shared yet another look before giving in and saying,

'Okay we'll leave tonight'

As soon as Freddie hung up the phone, Sam slapped him right in the face.

'I deserved that'

She then proceeded to slap him again.

'And that'

She then smiled and quickly kissed him.

'And that' she mimicked and ran out the room.

Seconds later she came running back in shouting,

'Freddie!'

Freddie smiled, having already picked up his jacket and keys,

'Don't worry I'm on it, do you want a regular tub or a large?'

She just looked at him,

'Is that even a question?'

**Seattle**

'Okay then Freddie I'll see you soon' she smiled and hung up the phone. She turned the Spencer who was sitting with her the whole time.

'Was that okay?' she asked.

'That was perfect.' He cheered.

The iCarly gang were in for a big shock.

_Authors Note –_

_So this was the very first chapter of mine and Beth's brand new iCarly fanfic. OMG it has been so long since I last wrote anything but I think this turned out okay. Anyway, lately me and my friend have been having major iCarly feels whilst re-watching old episodes. And I thought I'd start writing again. Me and Beth will be writing alternate chapters and will be getting help from our other two friends Danique and Shalena :) Tell me what you think! _


	2. Chapter 2

-**CHAPTER 2**-

"Freddieeeeee, I don't want to go," Sam Puckett whined as she lay face first down on the couch in their apartment. "Don't make me go!"

"Stop acting like a child, Sam," Freddie scolded, rolling his eyes from where he was standing in the kitchen, packing a bag for the trip they were about to take. "It's not going to hurt you to go and see my mom."

"Yes, it is," Sam answered simply. She sat up and looked across at Freddie in the kitchen. "And believe me, I was the devil child, this is nothing compared to how a mini version of me would act."

"Lucky me," Freddie mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

Freddie walked over to the couch and kneeled down in front of Sam.

"Look, if you come with me I take back what I said about not going on early morning chicken runs for you, okay?"

Sam pretended to think about it for a moment, scrunching her face up as though deep in concentration, making Freddie chuckle. He stood up and held his hand out to her.

"Come on, we have to get going," he said.

Sam gave an overdramatic groan, ignoring the hand Freddie was holding out to her. He rolled his eyes once more and took hold of her hand, leading her towards the door, picking up his bag and hers as he did. Sam, meanwhile, was doing everything she could to stop them moving. She was digging her heels into the floor and trying to grip onto every possible thing they passed, but Freddie wasn't having any of it- somehow and at some point, Fredward Benson had become slightly stronger than Sam Puckett, something he would never let her forget.

Just when Freddie thought he was making progress and they were actually going to make it to the door, Sam flung herself down so Freddie was literally pulling her across the floor. If anyone else saw this they would think the scene was very strange, but Freddie was used to her tantrums by now and just continued to pull her along.

"Don't make me goooooo!"

When Freddie finally got Sam in the car and began to drive, Sam was still in a bad mood.

"I don't get why you are putting up such a fight, Sam," Freddie said, "you usually love going to Seattle."

"Yeah, but this is a trip to see your mom, we only just got rid of her and now I have to put up with her again!" Sam exclaimed. "Why can't she just be the sort of mom who sees you on special occasions like my mom?"

"Speaking of your mom," Freddie continued, ignoring the insulting way she was speaking about his mother, "do you want to go and see her while we're in Seattle?"

Sam noted that he called it Seattle and not 'home' like they both referred to it as for so long. She couldn't pin point exactly when it stopped being home to them.

"I don't even know if my mom is in the country, Benson, let alone Seattle," Sam said with a scoff.

The last time Sam and Freddie had spoken to Pam Puckett, she was somewhere in Puerto Rico with a new husband and a new tattoo. The more Freddie thought about it, the more he realised the chances of her being in Seattle and at home were pretty slim. He was interrupted from his thoughts by Sam playing with the radio, changing the channel so rapidly he was sure she was going to break it.

"Are you going to be like this the whole journey?" He asked. "Because if so, I might just leave you somewhere on the side of the road."

"Yep," Sam replied, popping the 'p', then her voice changed to a teasing tone. "Besides, you wouldn't do that because you loooove me."

"Unfortunately, that's true," Freddie said. Sam then put her feet up on the dashboard. Freddie instantly knocked them down. "Don't put your feet up there, Sam, I cleaned this a few days ago."

"Nyeaaaah,"

"Nyeaaaah to you too. Before I forget, did you call Cat and ask her to look after things at the diner while we were gone?"

Sam looked sheepish. "No, I didn't, but I can now. Give me your phone."

"Where's yours?"

"I wore the battery down playing mobile Pac-Rat, now give me yours!"

"It's on the back seat,"

Sam reached behind her to grab Freddie's phone and found the number she was looking for before putting the phone to her ear and waiting for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Hello?" The voice of Cat Shapiro formerly Valentine answered.

"Yo, Cat, it's Sam," Sam said, kicking her feet up on the dashboard once more. Freddie merely sighed, not bothering to make her move them this time. Before Sam could continue to speak, she heard a small child exclaim 'MOMMYYYY' in the background and smirked. "Is that Ariana? How is the best little kid in the world?"

"She's fine," Cat answered, although Sam was sure she heard something break in the background too. "Although she's sad because she was meant to be spending the day with her daddy but he had to go into work."

"Speaking of work," Sam continued, "Fredward and I have had to take an emergency trip to Seattle to visit crazy..." Freddie cleared his throat suggestively and Sam rolled her eyes, gritting her teeth before speaking again, very sarcastically, "I mean, Freddie's wonderful mother who I adore..."

She shot Freddie a look that said 'are you happy now?'

"Much better," Freddie grinned.

Sam hit him lightly on the arm before talking to Cat once more. "Anywho, we're on our way out of town today, so can you take care of stuff at the diner while we're away?"

"Of course," Cat replied. "But what am I going to do with Ariana?"

"Take her with you," Sam said, "everyone there loves her. So you cool? You can run the place?"

"I can do it!" Cat said enthusiastically. "I always feel so important when you leave me in charge!"

Sam couldn't help but smile to herself. There were only 2 people who were that perky that she could put up with, Cat and...well, someone else she didn't like to think about.

"Okay, see you when we get back," Sam said to Cat, wiping all thoughts of the perky brunette from her thoughts.

"Have fun!" Cat exclaimed.

"Don't get your hopes up," Sam said, hanging up the phone and throwing it into the back of the car. Instead of landing on the seat, it fell down onto the floor.

Groaning, Freddie said, "if that's broken, you're buying me a new one."

"Don't get your hopes up," Sam repeated cheekily, going back to her previous activity of playing with the radio.

Freddie looked across at her, smiling to himself. He would never understand just how he had fallen for Sam Puckett all those years ago, but he was glad he had.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you it was rude to stare?" Sam asked, making him jump slightly.

"Yes," Freddie said simply, "but I'm allowed to stare at you."

Sam grinned. "Yeah, you are. Now come here."

She signalled for him to come closer and when he did, placed a kiss on his lips. Freddie smiled as she messed up his hair and pushed his head to the side playfully.

"Keep your eyes on the road, boy. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave."

"Yes, ma'am," Freddie joked, saluting at her.

"Ma'am, I like that! Call me that more often!"

Freddie laughed. "I love you,"

"Whatever,"

"Sam..."

"Yeah, yeah, love you too...now keep driving, I need to pee!"

Meanwhile, somewhere up in the sky, Carly Shay and her boyfriend, Charlie Parker were on their way to Seattle, not realising that Sam and Freddie were also on their way to that city.

"Are you excited to be going back?" Charlie asked, turning to Carly who was looking through a magazine but not really reading it.

"Not even slightly," Carly replied honestly, laughing nervously. The thought of going back to Seattle scared her, especially as they would probably be staying with Spencer and he still lived in the same apartment in Bushwell Plaza where she had spent her teenage years. There were a lot of memories in that building- a lot of memories that would be too painful to relive. "I'm excited for Spencer though. I'm glad his artwork is getting recognised, he really deserves it."

Charlie reached out and put his arm around Carly's shoulder, pulling her to him. "You're a good sister," he said.

"Just evidently not a good friend," Carly said, looking down sadly.

"Hey," Charlie said, "It's not your fault, drifting away from people you used to be friends with is sadly a natural part of life."

"I know," Carly said, "but Sam was my best friend in the world...and Freddie was like my brother. I always said I would never drift away from them and look what happened. I don't even know how they're doing, what they're doing, where they are and I hate it."

"I understand," Charlie said sympathetically, placing a kiss on her forehead. "But you never know, one day you might have the courage to pick up the phone. Maybe one day you'll see them again."

"Maybe," Carly replied, not knowing if the thought of seeing them again someday excited her or scared her more.

It was safe to say that Gibby Gibson had a good life. He had a lovely girlfriend (different to the one he had last week, but oh well), was extremely successful and had more money than he could ever think about needing. Things were going well for him. But he always felt as though there was something missing, something that had been missing for a long time now- that was his friends.

He had friends, of course, and people he could rely on, but it wasn't the same. So when he heard that Spencer Shay wanted to see him, it was like a blast from the past. Maybe seeing an old friend like Spencer would make him feel a little better.

"Hey, Lewis," Gibby said to his assistant who had just come into his office with a pile of paperwork he would probably never read. "I need you to cancel the appointments I had this afternoon."

Lewis, who had been working for Mr Gibson for a year now looked at his boss nervously. "Wha-what? But, sir, the meeting with Mr Bennett is extremely important and..."

"I don't care," Gibby said, cutting him off. "What I need to do is more important."

"And what is that, sir?"

Gibby smiled to himself. "I'm meeting an old friend."


	3. Chapter 3

-Chapter 3-

When they finally arrived at the airport, Sam was desperate to find the nearest source of food and ran off leaving Freddie to buy the tickets. Half an hour later Sam showed up with a full tub of chicken and a smirk placed on her face that somehow made her even more beautiful in the eyes of the dork.

He smiled, 'Of course' was all he said as he took her hand in his and their bags in the other and walked away towards the terminal.

As they took their seats on the plane, Freddie just examined her carefully. Her long blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, she wore no makeup and she was busy eating her way through her chicken. All he could do was smile because no matter what anyone else thought she was beautiful and the most amazing woman in the entire world, and she was his.

'You're doing it again' she laughed as she turned to face him. His gaze didn't falter and he took her hand in his.

'I know' was all he said before closing the space between them, kissing the woman that he loved more than anything in the world. As they parted she smiled and looked down at her hand. He followed her gaze and started caressing the ring that she held on her finger. The ring that symbolized their love, that no matter they would always be together.

A few hours later

'Freddie! I'm so glad you're here!' Mrs B cheered as she knocked Sam out the way and hugged her son tightly.

'It's good to see you too' Sam moaned and walked over to the couch where she lay down and made herself at home. Freddie just laughed and walked in dumping the bags and followed after Sam, moving her legs out the way so he could sit down.

'Are you tired from the journey? I've already made up the spare room for you'

'Yeah, we're exhausted. But didn't you say there was something you wanted to tell us?' Freddie questioned. He looked down at Sam who was pretty much already asleep. He smiled, she looked like an angel when she slept.

'It's okay, it can wait until tomorrow' she said, still not sure what the big 'news' is herself. She thought of Spencer and their plan; to get all of them to the groovy smoothie at half 4.

Freddie tried to wake Sam, 'Come on Princess Puckett, time for bed.' And when she didn't wake up he took her in his arms and carried her to the room. Mrs B smiled, she could see how much Freddie cared for her and how much she cared for him and was glad that he was so lucky to have found love.

Carly couldn't stop shaking as she looked around to the familiar sights of Seattle pass her by. It was now morning and they plane ride had been anything but relaxing. Charlie held her tight, 'You'll be fine' he said as he kissed her forehead. He could feel her whole body stiffen as the Bushwell Plaza came into sight.

It had been a long flight, but for Carly it felt even longer. She had been running away from this place for so long, and now here she was. She knew Freddie's Mom didn't live there anymore. She had gotten married again to some rich guy and moved in with him. But as she walked in the corridor and saw the door leading to her old apartment she couldn't help the sadness that engulfed her. The thoughts of her former friends wouldn't leave her mind, and she wondered if she would ever see them again, if she would ever get the chance to look them in the eye and apologize for everything.

She shook her head out of her thoughts as Charlie knocked on Spencer's door. A few moments later he answered, covered in paint. Some things never changed.

There was screaming in the background as Kaitlin and Jeremy ran toward her nearly toppling her over in the process. She laughed, her niece and nephew were still very young and she didn't see them often enough. Jeremy was only 4 and Kaitlin was 5.

'Uncle Charlie!' they cheered as they then proceeded to nearly knock him over with hugs. Spencer laughed as he took the bags from Charlie and welcomed them inside. The apartment was still very much the same with the addition of all the kids toys lying around the place.

'It's so good to see you' Carly cried as she hugged her brother tight. It had been about four months since they last saw each other. Spencer just smiled and hugged her back tightly. Carly could see Charlie in the background giving out the gifts they had brought with them.

'Auntie Carly, I started school last week! It was so much fun and I made so many new friends!' the young girl beamed as she took Carly's hand and led her to the couch.

'Aww that's great! Have you been a good girl for your daddy?' she asked looked up at the loving expression on the fathers face.

'Yes! I'm always a good girl, right daddy?' she smiled and ran over to give her father a huge hug, while again nearly knocking him over.

'Okay kids it's time for school' Cathy shouted as she entered the room. Carly stood up and smiled, giving her a hug.

'Cathy! It's really good to see you, how are you?' she asked and Cathy proceeded to tell the story of how tired the kids were making her these days while laughing.

After Cathy had gotten the kids out the door for school, Spencer sat down on the couch next to Carly as Charlie took their bags upstairs.

'How are you doing?' he asked as he was noticing her shaking hands. She looked down and smiled softly,

'It just feels weird being back.' She looked around and her gaze stopped as she looked up the stairs, 'It's just been so long'.

He put his arm around his sister and after a few moments of silence he said, 'I don't think they hate you as much as you think'.

When morning came Sam woke up to find Freddie staring. She moaned,

'I told you not to do that.'

He just laughed and kept staring at her. She couldn't help but smile as her eyes met his. For a few moments they just lay there caught in a trance, lost in each others eyes. Sam still can't pinpoint the exact moment that she realized that this dork was the love of her life, but it was a long time ago. Perhaps there was a part of her that always knew since the moment her eyes met his for the first time all those years ago, that she loved him. All those years she spent fighting her feelings only to finally realize that she didn't have to run away. Her thoughts turned sour as a memory of Carly flooded her mind. She remembered that without Carly, she would never have ended up with Freddie. That day at the school when Carly told her to make a move, she finally understood that she didn't have to be afraid anymore, that she could be happy. She doubts that she would've ever had the courage without Carly by her side to guide her.

Freddie could feel the mood change and he smiled softly.

'Are you thinking about Carly?'

She nodded.

After a few moments she looked back up at him,

'Do you think we will ever see her again?' she asked.

'I'm sure one day we will' he assured her and smiled.

'I'm sure she doesn't even care anymore'

By 8 o clock Gibby was already at work, trying to figure out why Spencer, after all these years, wanted to meet with him. Why now? Had something happened?

Just then Lewis entered with yet another big pile of papers, ones that he would probably never read. How he managed to become a CEO of a successful company, was a mystery to all.

'Good morning Sir' the man said as he placed the papers on Mr Gibson's desk.

'Morning' was his reply. Lewis looked concerned,

'Are you alright sir? You don't seem like yourself.'

Gibby just sighed. And when a few minutes of silence engulfed them Lewis decided he should leave.

Gibby sighed again as he looked at the clock, 8:05am.

It was going to be a long day.

After Charlie and Carly had settled in, they decided to sit down to lunch that Spencer had offered to cook them.

When all three of them had sat down to eat Spencer decided to put his plan in action.

'Cathy will be home at 3, the kids are going to stay with a friend tonight. So the Art gallery opens at half 5. But I was thinking we should stop by the Groovy Smoothie before we go, for old times sake' he explained. Carly looked upset.

'Can't we just go to the gallery? I don't want to relive old memories Spencer.'

'No come on, it'll be fun!' he exclaimed.

'I think we should go, it would be fun' Charlie suggested. Carly just moaned.

'Okay fine, we'll go. But only for half an hour.'

Spencer smiled to himself. He had been planning this for awhile and was excited that it was all finally coming together.

Spencer excused himself saying he had to go to the shops to get some groceries. Carly and Charlie were both sitting on the couch watching re runs of Drake and Josh.

'I swear that Megan girl looks like you. Well when you were younger of course!' he commented as they watched the young girl continue to play pranks on her brothers.

'No way! She looks nothing like me!' she laughed and then proceeded to pick up the remote and switch off the TV.

'Hey I watching that!' he joked but then saw her serious face and changed his tone.

'What's up?' he asked concerned.

'Don't you think it was weird earlier with Spencer? Why does he want me to go there?' she looked deep in thought. She knew her brother very well, and knew that he was hiding something. What was he up to?

'I'm sure he just wants you to have fun. Maybe he thinks if you get less scared about this place you would come and visit him here.'

'I'm not scared' she defended but he just raised an eyebrow at her.

'Okay maybe a little.'

'Spencer already told you you have nothing to worry about. Sam, Freddie and Gibby aren't even in Seattle right now. It's not like you are going to run into them there' he comforted her wrapping his arm around her.

'I know, I'm just being paranoid.' She looked up and gave him a smile, the same smile that made him fall for her in the first place. He still remember the first day he met her. He was driving home from college and that's when he saw her on the side of the road crying. He stopped his car to see if she was okay. And they spent the whole night just sitting there, talking. Her dad was always working and she had locked herself out of her home. Charlie had offered her a night at his home, in his spare room. And they way she looked at him, that smile, he fell for her instantly.

'I love you' he said.

'I love you too.'

By half past three that afternoon, Sam and Freddie at the shop for Mrs B. Still unsure of why they were there. Mrs B kept stalling when they asked about what she wanted to tell them. She ended up sending them to the shops to get her groceries, saying that she would tell them when they got back.

'What's up with your mom, Benson? She's acting weirder than usual' Sam asked as she stood behind him while he tried to pick between two different brands of noodles.

'I don't know. Maybe she just made up the whole 'needing to tell us something' thing to get us to come out here. Do you think I should get this brand? It's cheaper but I don't think it's as good' Freddie wasn't concentrating on the issue and Sam moaned and rolled her eyes. Freddie always took forever to do the grocery shopping.

'Why though? It can't be that she missed you, she was only out last week!' she cried, annoyed that they had already been there ten minutes now and he was still on the first item

on the list.

He finally turned around and faced her, placing the expensive brand of noodles in the trolley and smiled.

'Well you can't even go 9 days without me, so you can't judge her' he laughed recalling the time he left Sam alone for 9 days for a work trip and she ended up driving there and getting him fired so that he would come home.

'I already told you that was because Cat was driving me insane! She was bugging me constantly about my job as her 'maid of honor'. On the last day she took me dress shopping and I ran as fast as I could out of that place before she made me try on the pink frilly one!' she explained.

When they had finished shopping it was nearly quarter past 4.

As they were walking back Freddie's phone buzzed.

Hey, can you go by Groovy Smoothie on your way back and pick me up my usual? Thanks, mom x

'Looks like we're going to the Groovy Smoothie' he laughed and changed the direction that they were heading in.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**:

The time had almost come for the final step of Spencer's plan- for Carly, Sam, Freddie and Gibby to be reunited. Spencer had never been too good at planning so he was extremely excited but also anxious as there were many things that could go right, but even more that could probably go wrong. He just hoped there wouldn't be any broken furniture or bones...at least in the first ten minutes; Sam Puckett was going to be in the room, after all.

Spencer's first priority was to get Carly and Charlie to the Groovie Smoothie so he was currently walking with them towards the door, trying to ignore Carly's complaining and questions.

"I really don't see why we need to come here, Spencer," Carly said, struggling to keep up with him.

"Because I said so," Spencer said. "Come on, it'll be fun, hurry!"

Spencer reached back and grabbed Carly and Charlie by the hands and pulled them along. Charlie shot Carly a worried glance over her brother's shoulder.

"Why is your brother holding my hand?" Charlie asked.

Carly shook her head, wondering how she still seemed to find herself in these situations. "I...I have no clue, just go along with it."

The finally reached the Groovie Smoothie and Carly took a deep breath before entering. She couldn't remember the last time she had been here and a thousand memories of the time she used to spend in here came flooding back. A part of her hoped it had changed so much that it wouldn't make her feel like she was 16 again...but a bigger part of her hoped that this one thing in her life hadn't changed at all.

The bigger part of her was happy as they walked inside and she realised it still looked exactly the same. Including...

"Carly Shay!"

Carly looked around and saw the owner of the Groovie Smoothie, T-Bo, walking towards her. She smiled as the man enveloped her in a hug. Like his store, T-Bo hadn't changed much either, he just looked a little older.

"T-Bo!" Carly exclaimed when they pulled back from their hug. "Wow, I can't believe it...you still work here?"

T-Bo laughed out loud causing Charlie to step backwards slightly in shock. "I'm qualified for nothing!" He said. "Of course I still work here! It's good to see you, little Shay."

"You too, T-Bo,"

Spencer took this pause in conversation to grab Carly and Charlie by the hands again and lead them over to a table. "Let's sit down," he said. "T-Bo, get us some smoothies?"

"On it," T-Bo said, pointing at them with a wink before disappearing behind the counter.

Carly and Charlie went to sit down but jumped straight back up when Spencer let out a loud noise that sounded like a scream.

"What?!" Carly exclaimed, looking around in alarm. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Spencer said, pulling her to the other side of the table. "You just...you just need to sit facing this way?"

"Why?" Carly asked sceptically, sitting down as he pushed her onto the chair.

Spencer sat down opposite them. "Because..." he said slowly, trying to think of an excuse for why they couldn't face the door as he went, "I want to...look at...both your pretty faces."

Carly and Charlie looked at each other before silently agreeing not to ask which was always the best thing to do with Spencer.

Meanwhile, and unbeknownst to those inside, Sam and Freddie were also making their way to the Groovie Smoothie, squabbling about something, as usual, as they did.

"Why has your mom got us doing all these errands?" Sam questioned. "If this is all she made us come down here for, I swear..."

"Come on, Sam," Freddie said, lacing his hand with hers. "It's not going to kill us to pick up a smoothie for her. And the sooner we do it, the sooner we can get back."

"Home?!" Sam asked hopefully.

Freddie shook his head. "To my mom's."

Sam sighed. "Fine, let's do it. What smoothie does your mother even drink?"

"I don't know," Freddie replied, "some weird feminine boost thing or something."

Sam shuddered at the thought.

"Besides," Freddie continued, "you're always saying how much you miss the Groovie Smoothie."

"True," Sam said. "I should have opened one of these in L.A instead of a diner."

As she said this, the two paused, seeing the building in front of them. This place had been like a second home to them growing up and it felt strange for them to be going back there, 10 years later when so much had changed.

"Is this going to be awkward?" Sam asked.

"Probably," Freddie answered. "Are you ready for this?"

"Not in the slightest."

There were moments in life where everything went perfectly and everything happened exactly the way it should be, where the stars seemed to align in order for this to happen.

You could call it fate, you could call it a coincidence, or you could call it the universe giving you a sign or a helping hand.

Whatever it was, this was one of those moments.

At the same moment that Gibby Gibson walked out of the bathrooms of the Groovie Smoothie, the door opened and Sam Puckett and Freddie Benson walked in, just as Carly Shay dropped a napkin on the floor and turned around to pick it up.

And for the first time in a long time, the former iCarly gang found themselves face to face.

"Carly?" Sam asked in disbelief, locking eyes with her childhood best friend. "Carly Shay?"

"Sam, Freddie, Gibby?" Carly also asked, breathlessly, not believing what she was seeing.

"Yo, T-Bo, can I get a large blueberry banana blitz?" Gibby asked, seemingly having no clue what was happening at that moment. Everyone turned around to look at him and it was then he noticed, jumping slightly. "Whoa, Sam, Carly, Freddie! What are you guys doing here?"

"I think that is a question we all want to know the answer to," Freddie said accusingly, crossing his arms across his chest and looking towards Spencer.

"We planned all this," Spencer said, addressing them all. "We planned all this to..."

Sam held up a hand, interrupting him and said, "wait, wait, wait...we?"

It was then Mrs Benson appeared from a nearby table and walked over to them. Freddie did a double take upon seeing his mother.

"Mom?" He asked. "You were in on this?"

"Yes, Freddie," Mrs Benson answered. "That's why I called you here."

There was the sound of applause and everyone looked around to see Sam applauding. "Alright, way to go, Mrs B! I didn't know you could be this devious."

Mrs Benson looked pleased with herself before catching the look Spencer was giving her and signalled for him to continue.

"Thank you," he said. "We planned this and called you all here because we needed to get you all in the same room."

Gibby piped up with, "so you lied to us?"

"Yes," Spencer said, then shook his head. "Although, I didn't lie to you, technically. I invited you here for smoothies."

"True. So, are you paying?"

"Sure, I guess."

"YES!"

"Can we focus here please?" Carly asked, trying to restore order to situation she didn't understand in the first place. She turned to face Spencer and raised her eyebrows. "You didn't lie to Gibby...but you lied to me. There's no art show?"

Spencer laughed out loud, much like T-Bo did earlier. Charlie once again looked shocked. "Of course not!" Spencer said. "Fancy art shows don't like my work! But I had to lie or I would have never gotten you here." Spencer paused. "Do any of you realize what day it was yesterday?"

There was silence. No one was willing to admit they knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Ten years ago yesterday, you all did the last episode of iCarly," Spencer answered for them, "and nothing has been the same since. You've basically not seen each other since! I'm going to change that. You're all here now and in the same room, and you are going to sit and talk to each other about what happened to you over these past years, because I sure don't know what did."

Sam laughed humourlessly and held her hands up, slowly beginning to back up towards the door. "No way, I can't do this," she said, trying to leave.

"T-Bo!" Spencer shouted, and as Sam reached the door, T-Bo stepped in front of it, blocking her exit.

"Get out of my way," Sam said menacingly.

T-Bo shook his head and Sam looked ready to pounce. Freddie noticed this and dashed over to her, grabbing her around the waist and lifting her off the ground slightly before she could.

"Let me go!" Sam said, trying to wriggle out of his arms.

"No, come on, Sam, let's just...let's just see what happens, okay?" Freddie asked her.

Sam sighed as he put her down on the floor, taking her hand and leading her back over to the group. T-Bo breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't going to have his eyes scratched out or worse and dashed back behind the counter and out of the way.

"Now, here's what we're going to do," Spencer said, trying to take charge. "The four of you are going to sit around in a circle and each of you is going to say what has been happening with you for the past however many years."

Sam scoffed. "This sounds a lot like circle time. You can't treat us like kids, Spencer."

"Yes, I can," Spencer said firmly. "Now sit."

Spencer began pulling out chairs and moving tables so the four former friends and Charlie could sit in a circle. They all sat down grudgingly, no one knowing what to say and no one wanting to start.

The silence caused Carly to sigh and look up at Spencer, saying, "Spencer, I don't think this is going to work..."

"Why?" Freddie asked, sounding bitter. "Because you know you're in the wrong and you're scared?"

Carly at least had the decency to look embarrassed.

"We're doing this," Spencer said. "Now...Gibby, why don't you start?"

"Alright," Gibby said with a shrug. "I umm...I went to college in New York but came back to Seattle when I'd finished because I got an offer for a job with a music company. I moved my way up slowly and now I am the manager of the most successful music company in Seattle."

Freddie let out a slow breath. He knew Gibby had done well for himself and was some sort of manager of a company, but he didn't expect that. Although now he thought about it, he would have paid good money to bet Gibby would be the one out of them to be rich. The world was just strange that way.

"You got a girlfriend, Gibby?" Sam asked.

"We're not exclusive," Gibby answered dismissively.

Sam nodded. Freddie was reminded of the time Gibby said that same thing about him and Tasha while he was dressed as a werewolf and stealing his date, Patrice. But then the silence ensued once more. Spencer stepped into the circle, ready to get the conversation going again.

"Okay, so now we know that Gibby is a millionaire who lives like a rockstar," he said, causing everyone to chuckle, despite themselves, "let's move on. Carly, why don't you go next?"

Carly nodded but now felt a little nervous. She never imagined she would be in this situation, explaining the past nine years of her life to the people she basically abandoned. She looked to Charlie for support and he nodded, smiling sweetly at her.

"Umm, well, first of all, this is my boyfriend, Charlie," Carly said, her voice sounding shaky.

"Huh," Gibby laughed to himself, "Charlie and Carly. That's funny."

"GIBBY!"

"Sorry!"

Some things never changed, clearly.

"We met while I was in college," Carly continued. "I obviously went to college in Italy and studied fashion and now I work for a fashion magazine in Italy."

"Good for you, Carly," Gibby said, smiling at her.

That smile gave her a little more confidence. "Thanks, Gibby."

"Freddie, how about you go next?" Spencer asked.

Freddie nodded. For some reason, he felt himself getting a little annoyed. This situation seemed a little too friendly considering the situation. "Well, I umm...I went to college in L.A. and now I'm a director."

"Awesome!" Gibby exclaimed. "Have you done anything we'd know?"

"Not really," Freddie said, shaking his head. "Just a few tv shows and commercials. I'm hopefully doing a movie later this year, though."

Everyone in the room noticed the way Sam smiled over at Freddie with an almost proud expression on her face. Freddie smiled back over at her and they laced their fingers together once more as though they didn't even realise they'd done it- like it was a reflex.

Spencer spoke up again and congratulated Freddie on the possible movie he could be involved with and turned the attention to Sam. No one really knew what Sam was going to do when she grew up, if she ever properly did grow up. For most of her life she had wanted to be an invisible ninja although that wasn't a profession that probably brought in a good amount of money, so it would have been sensible to have a back up plan. Before Sam began to speak, Carly remembered sadly that she didn't even know if Sam had gone to college. When they were teenagers, Carly and Freddie were always trying to convince Sam to at least try and apply to some colleges and see where it got her, but she always gave them a vague answer and didn't want to talk about. Sam never wanted to talk about the future. But the future was here now and Carly was anxious to hear what she had done.

"I'm sure you'll all be surprised to know that I actually did go to college," Sam said, reclining in her chair slightly. "Only community college though, in L.A. But it turned out okay because now I live there and own an awesome diner with my friend, Cat and..."

"Best friend," Freddie interrupted.

Sam turned to Freddie and shook her head slowly. "Freddie, don't..."

"No, Sam, Cat is your best friend," Freddie said, suddenly getting angry. "I get that Carly was your best friend but it's been nine years now, I'm sure she can deal with hearing you've got a new best friend. Cat is the one who has been there for you all these years."

Sam blinked a few times before speaking once more. "I own a diner with my friend Cat," she said firmly. What Freddie was saying was true- she knew nothing about Carly, Cat was the friend who had been there for her, but she still couldn't bring herself to say it out loud and she didn't know why.

Carly felt a sudden rush of affection for the blonde haired girl in front of her. Sam Puckett was a puzzle and a half. She had every right to hate Carly but she couldn't figure out why she didn't seem to.

"So, you and Freddie are together, right?" Carly asked, indicating their joined hands.

"Of course," Sam said dismissively.

"How long has it been?"

"About nine years now."

Without even realising, Carly gasped out loud. Sam turned to look at her fiercely.

"What?" Sam questioned. "Didn't think we'd last? Or shocked that Sam Puckett was actually able to maintain a relationship?"

"I'm not shocked, I promise," Carly said, almost pleadingly. "I always had a feeling you guys were meant to be, it's just...nine years is a long time." It was then that Carly realised something and she had to ask, "You're not married, are you?"

Sam shook her head but held up her left hand, revealing a diamond ring. Carly's eyes grew wide.

"No, but we're engaged," Sam said, a small smile appearing on her face just at the thought of it. "Clearly we did something right this time around."

"I'm so happy for you guys," Carly gushed.

It was then something snapped in Freddie. He sat forward, angrily and shook his head.

"Yeah, Carly, clearly we lasted this time because we didn't have you interfering," he said, bitterly. There was a collective intake of breath at his harsh comment. "We were ourselves this time and didn't have you around trying to get us to be the perfect couple and like the same things as each other, because ultimately, that is what broke us up. That was your fault."

"I was trying to help!" Carly insisted. "I cared about you guys, I was trying to help you make your relationship better!"

"We didn't need help!" Freddie yelled. "And cared as in past tense, right? Because you clearly didn't care enough not to cut us out of your life like we didn't even matter!"

Suddenly, something also snapped in Charlie, and needing to defend Carly, he spoke up. "Hey, man," he said, turning to Freddie. "Don't talk to her like that."

Freddie stood up and laughed bitterly. "Oh, he speaks! I'd forgotten you were here."

Charlie also stood up and Carly sighed, putting her head in her hands. Even Sam looked worried and she was always up for watching a fight.

"Look, if you've got a problem with me, fair enough," Charlie said, stepping closer to Freddie. "But don't take it out on Carly, do not talk to my girlfriend like that."

Freddie closed the gap even more and stood right in front of Charlie. Charlie was strong but Freddie was stronger. He was also taller and could look down at Charlie in an intimidating way but Charlie didn't seem affected.

"You're protecting your girlfriend, I'm protecting mine," Freddie said simply. "That's what I do. If someone hurts Sam, I don't take too kindly to it, and that's exactly what Carly did. I'm not going to stand by and act like that's okay. She may seem like a perfect little angel to you, but I've seen differently."

The two boys seemed to lunge at one another simultaneously as though it had been rehearsed. Luckily, before Spencer's earlier hope of no broken bones and broken furniture could come crashing down, Gibby and Spencer had the sense to step in between them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Spencer said, holding Charlie back while Gibby did the same to Freddie. "It's getting a little crazy in here, maybe you two should go outside and cool down, talk it out."

Freddie and Charlie glared at each other and the two other boys let them go when they were sure they weren't going to attack. Charlie leaned down to talk to Carly and Freddie did the same to Sam.

"Sam, are you going to be alright if I..." Freddie started.

Sam nodded and cut him off. "Yeah, yeah, go cool down or something. I'd normally be all for fighting but..." she paused and took his chin between her fingers, moving his head from side to side playfully and continuing in a teasing tone, "wouldn't want anyone to mess up that pretty face."

Freddie laughed and batted Sam's hands away.

"Seriously," she said, looking up at him, "I'm fine, baby. Besides...I want to talk to Carly alone."

Carly's head shot up, looking alarmed. She was glad to see that Sam didn't look angry and as though she wanted to finish what Freddie started.

"Come on, you two," Spencer said to Freddie and Charlie. "Let's go outside. Gibby, you can come too."

"Yes!" Gibby shouted, pumping the air. "I love guy talk!"

Spencer shook his head in confusion and began to lead the boys outside. Charlie leaned down to kiss Carly on the head and Freddie also leaned down to kiss Sam before leaving too. Mrs Benson conveniently made herself scarce too. Once they had gone, Carly and Sam sat in silence, not being able to look at each other and not knowing what to say.

"So..." Sam said, twirling her engagement ring around on her finger. She still wasn't used to it being there and it made her smile every time she saw it.

"So..." Carly echoed, then took a deep breath. "Look, Sam, I get that you're probably angry with me, and you have every right to be but..."

"I'm not angry."

"What?"

"I'm not angry," Sam repeated. "I should be though, I should hate you. But...I can't. I don't know how I feel. You were the one person I could never stay angry at, Carly. Now, things have changed and I am just so confused and was not expecting to see you today, or ever for that matter."

And then there was silence again.

"You look happy," Carly said quietly. "You seem really, really happy. And I'm so pleased for you and Freddie."

"I am happy," Sam replied. "You seem happy too. Charlie seems awesome...you know, when he's not trying to fight with my fiancé."

The two girls laughed and there was a sudden feeling of how things used to be. But it was wrong. They shouldn't be feeling like that, they shouldn't be suddenly sharing pleasantries and laughing with each other. Freddie was right- Carly had done a horrible thing, Sam shouldn't be okay with that.

"Look, Sam, I can't cope with this role reversal thing!" Carly blurted out.

"Huh?" Sam asked, scrunching her face up in confusion.

"You, sitting there calmly and Freddie needed to go outside to cool down after almost being in a fight!" Carly continued. "It's all changed and I need you to yell at me, I need you to be angry because you can't just be okay with it, it's too weird!"

Sam took a deep breath. "Yeah, well. It wouldn't be a surprise to you that I'm not as intense as I used to be if you'd been around."

As strange as it seemed, Carly was extremely happy that Sam was getting angry.

"Okay, that's good!" Carly said. "Keep it coming. Everything you feel, tell me right now, I deserve it. Don't hold back. You can even hit me if you want, I won't stop you."

Sam laughed, shaking her head. "I've never hit you, Carly, and I'm not going to change that now. I just..." She paused and ran her hands through her hair. "How could you do it? How could you just abandon us like that? You, of all people knew that I had issues with people abandoning me and that's why I didn't get close to people. I always thought you would be the one person who would never do that to me because you knew how much it hurt me when my dad left and when Melanie left and the fact that my mom was never around...you just became one of them, Carly."

Carly saw that Sam was getting upset so tried to talk but Sam continued over the top of her.

"No, I'm on a roll now, let me continue," she said. "You promised me that when you left for Italy, nothing would change. You promised that we would still be best friends, you'd just be in another country for a while. You even said it wouldn't be the last episode of iCarly. You told our fans that! It lasted for a while. We coped with being away from each other but then you started ignoring our calls and not replying to our texts and it hurt, Carly. It really hurt."

"Sam..."

"And you know what else hurt? You kissed Freddie, Carly!" Sam exclaimed, sounding extremely upset. Sam didn't cry often so when she almost did, you knew it was serious. "You knew how I felt about him. You knew I loved him and you kissed him before you left! How could you do that to me? From the start, you never wanted him and I did and you kissed him and then just cut us out of your lives! I don't understand how it was so easy for you to do that."

"It wasn't!" Carly cried. "It wasn't like I planned it, I just got so busy and then more time passed and I just knew you'd be so angry with me that I didn't feel like I could talk to you."

Carly stopped put her head in her hands.

"But you weren't completely innocent," Carly mumbled. "You stopped trying too."

Sam scoffed. "Because I got tired of waiting. You'd clearly moved on with your life and I needed to do that too. And I did! I'm happy right now, I am so, so happy with my life. Freddie and I are better than ever, I'm getting married! I have an awesome job and awesome friends..."

Her voice trailed off and turned into a tone just above a whisper.

"But I miss you," she said. "I miss how it used to be and I hate that we aren't even friends anymore."

"I miss you too," Carly said, tears now in her eyes. "I'm so, so sorry for everything that I've done. I should not have cut you out of my life, I should have tried harder and picked up the phone. I just got scared...and now we're here."

"And now we're here."

Carly got up out of her seat and sat down in the one next to Sam. "Do you ever think you could forgive me? Do you ever think we could be friends again?"

"I don't think we could be like before," Sam mumbled, looking at her lap. "But...maybe we could start fresh."

"Really?" Carly asked hopefully.

Sam shrugged. "We'll just have to see what happens. Maybe...maybe you could come to the wedding or something? That could be a start and we could see where we go from there."

Carly nodded enthusiastically. "I would love that."

And before either of them knew what they were doing, the two girls were hugging each other tightly, crying.

"I love you, Sam," Carly muttered through her tears. "I love you and I hate myself for what I've done and just hope I can at least try to make it up to you somehow."

Sam sniffed and hugged Carly tighter. "You've always meant so much to me, Carly. That will never change."

They pulled back and looked at each other. Never did either of them think they would be in this position. But things change and life takes courses you don't think it will. You can't erase the past but you can try and fix it and move forward. And that's what they needed to do.

"Maybe we should go and make sure Freddie and Charlie haven't killed each other," Sam joked.

Carly and Sam looked at each other, and even though they were both still crying, they began to laugh.

"That might be a good idea," Carly said, wiping under her eyes to remove the tears there. "They might have taken Spencer and Gibby with them."

The girls laughed again and gave each other one more hug before going to survey the scene outside. Hopefully Freddie would see things from Sam's point of view and try to forgive Carly the way Sam planned to...

If not, it was going to be one heck of a interesting wedding.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Freddie Benson rarely got angry to the point of violence. He got annoyed, sure, but not so much that he would have to be taken outside to 'cool down', much like he was doing now. Freddie usually left the fighting to Sam- she could throw a much better punch than him and although he didn't like to admit it, was all round more intimidating.

But, for some reason, he found himself at that moment, leaning outside the wall of the Groovy Smoothie, trying to calm himself down, the man he almost had a fight with doing the same next to him. Spencer was watching the two carefully, monitoring them in case they decided to pounce, while Gibby was fascinated by a leaf he had found on the floor.

Today was going well.

He just hoped Sam and Carly weren't fighting inside. Sam would obviously be angry, but fighting with Carly would always be like kicking a puppy, no matter what she'd done. None of the men outside had heard any screaming though, which was a positive.

"Have you guys calmed down now?" Spencer asked cautiously, looking from Freddie to Charlie.

"I think so," Charlie said, "just...heat of the moment, you know?"

"Yeah," Freddie agreed.

Spencer nodded. "Okay...so what the hell was that about? You guys barely even know each other and you were about to rip each other's heads off! I did not plan on this happening."

"What did you plan on happening, Spencer?" Freddie asked. "Were you expecting after all this time that we'd just fall into each other's arms crying and apologising?"

Spencer looked down at his feet and mumbled, "Yes."

Freddie rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, life doesn't work like that. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

He tried to walk inside but Spencer stepped in front of him, stopping him. Freddie raised his eyebrows in question.

"Don't go in there yet," Spencer said. "Give the girls some time to talk. And you boys can talk too. Charlie, you start, explain your side."

"I'm not really involved that much. I mean, I'm just Carly's boyfriend, I only really know her side of the story. I know that she's been torn up for years over what happened with you guys," Charlie said, then turned to face Freddie. "I've been trying to get her to pick up the phone and talk to you, man. I have no problem with you, you're probably a cool guy, it's just...well, I had to defend her back there."

Freddie nodded. "Yeah, I get that. And I appreciate that you tried to get her to contact us, but the point is, she didn't. What Carly did was horrible and if you think I'm just going to let that slide and have things go back to the way they were, then you're wrong. She cut us out of her life!"

"Kinda the way you did to me?"

A voice piped up from next to Spencer and everyone turned to look at Gibby who had spoken for the first time since they had come outside.

"What?" Freddie questioned. "Gibby, what are you talking about?"

"Well, you keep saying that Carly cutting you out of her life was all terrible and stuff," Gibby explained, "but you did the same to me. When was the last time we spoke, Freddie? When was the last time you or Sam even picked up a phone or sent me an email to see how I'm doing? I mean, if Spencer hadn't invited me here you probably wouldn't have even thought about me."

That made things difficult. The four boys stood in silence, Spencer hoping another fight wasn't going to break out, Charlie feeling incredibly awkward, and Freddie having no clue what to say.

"Well, that's," Freddie started, shaking his head in confusion and stuttering, "that's different, I mean...Carly and Sam were closer than close, you know that, and it killed Sam when Carly stopped calling. They were best friends."

"And we weren't?" Gibby challenged.

Freddie sighed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously in a way that had become a habit to him. Sam found it annoying because he did it all the time but he couldn't help it. But right now, Gibby was making a good point.

"Gibby..." Freddie said, trying to justify himself but Gibby held up his hands, stopping him.

"Look, I'm not going to fight with you, Freddie," he said. "But I just don't think you should be acting all high and mighty and being cruel to Carly for what she did when you and Sam did the exact same thing to me...and even Spencer. After you moved to LA, slowly, you stopped calling and texting and basically forgot all about me. I thought we were closer than that. We were there for each other through some pretty tough stuff but for the last few years it's as though you've forgotten I exist."

Freddie went to speak again, even though he had no clue what would even come out of his mouth, but was saved from speaking by the door opening and Sam and Carly walking out. All four of the boys turned to face them, nervously, checking to make sure Carly wasn't sporting any sort of injury, courtesy of Sam, and were shocked to see it looked like the girls had been crying.

"Sam, are you okay?" Freddie asked, stepping nearer to her and putting his hand on her arm, studying her face for any sign of what had happened in there.

Sam nodded, squeezing Freddie's hand with hers. "Yeah, I'm fine. You guys cool now?"

"I think Charlie and I are now," Freddie replied, not being able to meet Gibby's eye. "What...what happened in there?"

Carly stepped away from Charlie who had his arm around her and moved back nearer to Sam. "We umm...we had a really good talk. We discussed a lot of things and we came to some sort of agreement."

"Carly and I decided that although a lot of things have happened and it's not going to be easy to just forgive and forget...that we want to start fresh. A clean slate. Build things up from there," Sam said.

Spencer smiled, reaching out to give Carly a sideways hug. "I'm glad to hear that, kiddo."

"Yeah, that's great," Charlie said happily.

Freddie, however, did not agree.

"What?!" He exclaimed, shaking his head and looking around at everyone before looking back at Sam. "You're telling me you've forgiven her?"

"No, not forgiven," Sam said. "Like I said, we're going to try and work things out and see what happens from there. In fact..." she paused to take a deep breath, "I've already asked Carly this but...I'd really like if you guys could come to LA for the wedding. All of you. I think it would be a good start."

Everyone mumbled their approval, smiling at one another, Spencer even giving Sam a hug. But Freddie was still very confused, shaking his head, wondering what on earth was happening.

"Wait, wait, wait," he said, sounding confused and angry. "Are you serious? You're kidding, right? This has got to be some sort of joke. I don't get how you all seem to think everything is okay! We're not in high school anymore! Things aren't magically going to be fixed over a smoothie. We're not going to go and laugh with each other while we eat some spaghetti tacos together. That can't happen anymore! And none of you seem to get that."

"Freddie..." Sam said softly, trying to reach out to him but he shook her hand off.

"No, Sam, don't," he said. "You can make your own decisions and I can't stop you...but that doesn't mean I'm going to agree with them."

Leaving everyone standing there in shock, Freddie walked away. It took Sam a few seconds to realise what had happened.

"I gotta go after him," she said to everyone. "I want all of you at the wedding, I just need to talk to him, get him to come around. Meet me back here in an hour, okay?"

Giving no one a chance to even reply, Sam set off after Freddie.

She found him not that long later, at his mother's house. Not having a key to get in, she had to use her old talent of picking the lock. It took her a little longer than it would have than when she was a teenager, but that was to be expected, however she did get in and walked into the spare bedroom where she and Freddie were staying and saw him packing a suitcase.

"Dude," she said, standing in the doorway and making him jump slightly. "Not cool."

"Not cool?" He said, lifting his head to look at her. "No, Sam, what's not cool is you acting like everything is fine and inviting them to our wedding without even asking me!"

Sam sighed and walked over to him. "I know, I know, I should have asked you first. I didn't think you were going to make such a big deal out of it though."

Freddie laughed out loud sarcastically. "Ohhh, of course I'm not going to make a big deal about you inviting our ex best friends to our wedding when we haven't talked to them in years because one of them decided she couldn't be bothered to keep in touch. Why on earth would I get angry about that?"

Despite the situation, Sam couldn't help but smirk slightly. "You're getting better at this sarcasm thing. Looks like I have rubbed off on you over the years."

"This isn't the time for jokes, Puckett."

"Okay, it's not," Sam said, holding her hands up. "I'll stop. Why are you packing, though?"

"I'm going back to LA," Freddie replied, piling more stuff into his suitcase.

"Don't you think we should figure things out here first?" Sam asked.

"Why?" Freddie asked back, bitterly. "Seems like you did that without me. Feel free to stay, of course. In fact, why don't you go and film a webshow! Yeah, that'll be fun. Maybe Gibby can finally do that doctor lobster bit we never got around to letting him do."

Freddie began to zip up the suitcase but Sam grabbed his hands, stopping him and making him look at her. She pushed him back so he was sitting on the bed and stood in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Look at me," she said, looking him in the eyes. "I'm sorry that I didn't ask you. I should have made sure we were on the same page first. But come on, Freddie. We've been wondering for years what would happen if we could see them all again, especially Carly. This is our chance! She's not going to be planning the wedding and Spencer's not going to be your best man but I still think it would be good if they could be there."

Freddie went to speak but Sam wouldn't let him, wanting to get her point across first.

"You're right, things aren't going to be the same as they used to be. We aren't teenagers any more, like you said. We're big grown up's now!" Sam said, patting him on the cheek and chuckling. "We're grown up people who are getting married! Shouldn't that be why we try to put the past behind us and move forward? Shouldn't we at least take this chance and see what happens?"

Sighing, Freddie looked down and mumbled, "when did you get so smart and rational?"

Sam grinned and pushed his shoulder back playfully. "It's what happens when I've been around you for far too much time."

There was silence for a few moments until Sam felt Freddie place his hands on her waist. She placed her hands at the back of his neck.

"So, are we good?" She asked slowly. "You're not angry with me?"

"I wasn't angry with you, Sam," Freddie replied softly. "I was just angry with the situation and I was confused. But no, I'm not angry any more. Confused still, but not angry."

"One out of two ain't bad," Sam said. "Are you okay with them coming now? Because if not, I can..."

Freddie cut her off. "No, it's fine, they can come. We can take things from there. Besides, when we got engaged, one of the first things you said was that it was going to feel weird not having Carly at your wedding. Now you can."

Sam grinned and leaned down to kiss him softly, pulling back to rest her forehead against his.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I don't expect you to be completely okay with this right now, but thank you."

"I'd do anything for you," Freddie answered sincerely. "You know that."

She tried not to blush as she kissed him again.

"Let's get out of here," Sam said, stepping back and holding her hand out to him. "Let's go talk to everyone and figure some stuff out."

"Okay," Freddie replied, standing up and taking her hand in his.

The two began to walk towards the door and let go of each other's hands, only to wrap their arms around each other, Freddie's around her shoulder and hers around his waist, her other hand holding onto his that was around her shoulder. Sam bumped her hip against his, laughing, and making him stumble slightly. He did the same back to her, ruffling up her hair as she tried to dodge away from him.

"You know, I love you and all that mushy stuff," Sam replied then continued in a teasing tone. "But my god, you're a lot of work sometimes."

Freddie laughed out loud. "Rude. Like you're not a lot of work too."

"True. However, I'm the one who just had to stop you from freaking out, so..."

"Come on," he said, tugging her along.

"Back to the Groovy Smoothie? I told them all we'd meet them there again when I'd found you."

"Yep...this should be interesting."

"No kidding."


End file.
